Braided rope eye



Jan. 30, 1968 w. D. MEALS ET AL 3,366,002

BRAIDED .ROPE EYE Filed March l5, 1966 QM WILLIAM D. MEALS and GRANT H. CARPENTER .fheir ATTRNEY United States Patent O BRAIDED RGPE EYE William D. Meals, Manheim Township, Lancaster County, and Grant H. Carpenter, Montoursville, Pa., assgnors to Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 534,328 Claims. (Cl. 878) This invention relates to an eye or loop for a braided wire rope, and the method of making it. It is more particularly concerned with such an eye which is itself he1i cally or cable laid.

Braided wire rope is widely used for slings because its braided structure renders it inherently more flexible than a helically or cable laid rope. Braided rope, however, is inherently more susceptible to damage than helically laid rope, and this damage is particularly troublesome in the eyes or loops of conventional braided wire rope slings.

It is an object of our invention, therefore, to provide a braided Wire rope of an even number of strands with a helically or cable laid eye having a greater resistance to damage than the rope body. It is another object to provide such an eye in the form of a looped back rope end secured to the rope body with a compression tting. It is another object to provide a method for making such an eye. Other objects of our invention will appear in the course of the description thereof which follows.

We have invented a rugged damage-resistant eye for braided Wire rope of n strands comprising a looped back end portion of the rope secured to the rope body with a compression fitting. This end portion is a helically laid up rope of, preferably, (l1-1) strands. We have also invented a method of making that eye. Our invention is particularly adapted to an eight-part braided rope, and will be described hereinafter in that context. It is, however, also adapted to other braided ropes having four or more strands.

An embodiment of our invention presently preferred by us is illustrated in the attached gures to which reference is now made. FIGURE 1 is a sketch of an eightpart braided wire rope having a terminal portion unbraided into its eight component strands. FIGURE 2 is a sketch of the rope of FIGURE 1 in which two of the eight original strands have been prepared to be combined into one strand. FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail sketch of strand 5 of FIGURE 2. FIGURE 4 is a sketch of the rope of the above figures in which strands 4 and 5 of FIGURES 2 and 3 have been combined into a single terminal strand 6. FIGURE 5 is a sketch of the rope of the above figures, in which six of the seven terminal strands have been helically laid up around the seventh strand as a core. FIGURE 6 is an enlarged cross section through the terminal portion 7 of FIGURE 5 taken on the plane 6 6. FIGURE 7 is an enlarged cross section through a strand 10 of FIGURE l taken on the plane 7 7. FIGURE 8 is a sketch of an eye made from the terminal end 7 of the rope of FIGURE 5 together with a compression fitting.

In the figures the rope body is shown as divided from its terminal portion 3 by a binding or seizing 2 of tine wire. It is conventional to bind or seize the rope at the junction of body and unlaid portions to prevent undesirable untwisting or unlaying from taking place, and this seizing is not a part of our invention.

The figures above identified illustrate stages in the method of making our invention, which invention is most conveniently described with reference to that method. In FIGURE 1 terminal portion 3 of eight-part braided rope 1 comprises strands 4 and 5 and six additional strands each designated 10. These strands are untwisted from their original braided arrangement as a rst step in the making of our eye. Strands 4 and 5 and the six strands 10-1tb are identical and each consists of six Wires 11 laid helically around a core 12 4as is shown in cross section in FIGURE 7. We prepare strands 4 and 5 by untwisting them and cutting off at binding 2 three wires 11-*11 of strand 4 and three Wires 11-11 and core 12 of strand 5. Strand 5 so prepared is shown in enlarged detail in FIGURE 3. The rope so prepared is shown in FIGURE 2. The six remaining Wires 11-11 of strands 4 and 5 are then helically twisted or laid around remaining core 12 into new strand 6 (FIGURE 4) which is thus a composite of the remaining portions of strands 4 and 5.

The six strands 1li- 1G together with strand 6 are then laid helically into terminal portion 7 as is shown in FIG- URE 5. One of the strands serves as a core for the other six as is shown in FIGURE 6, where strand 6 is the core. However, it makes no difference whether the core is strand 6 or any one of the six strands 1li-1G. The free end of terminal portion 7 is bound with fine Wire 8 to keep it from untwisting.

The eye is completed by bending helically laid terminal portion 7 around against itself so that its tree end is adjacent binding 2 where it is held in place by a conventional malleable metal compression fitting 9 which is applied in the usual way.

While we prefer to form a composite strand 6 by cutting off half of the outer Wires 11-11 of each of strands 4 and 5, cutting off the core 12 of strand 4, and laying up the remaining strands around core 12 of strand 5 as We have described herein, We can form strand 6 in other Ways. We can cut off more or less than half of the outer Wires of strand 4 and less or more than half of the outer wires of strand 5 so long as the aggregate number of outer Wires remaining equals the number originally present in the strand, six in the strands illustrated in the iigures. The remaining Wires from strands 4 and 5, Whatever, their respective proportion, are laid helically together around the remaining core.

Our invention is not limited to configurations including a single composite strand as described herein. With certain types of braided rope, We find it desirable to form more than one composite strand in the way described herein in order to produce a smooth helically laid eye.

We claim:

1. An eye for a Wire rope having a body of n strands braided together, n being an integer not less than 4, each strand consisting of a plurality of wires laid helically together around a core, comprising a terminal portion of rope of not more than (f1-1) strands helically laid together, one of those terminal strands consisting of a fraction of the Wires of the (11-1)th strand and a fraction of the wires of the nth strand laid helically together around the core of the (rz'-1)tl:1 strand, the sum of the fractions being unity, the remaining wires of the (n-1`)th strand and of the nth strand and the core of the nth strand being cut off at the junction of body and terminal rope portions, the -free end of the terminal portion being looped back and pressed against the terminal portion by a compression fitting.

2. The eye of claim 1 in which each fraction is onehalf.

3. The eye of claim 1 in which the terminal portion of (r1-l) strands is formed into (ni-2) str-ands helically laid around the remaining strand as a center strand.

4. The eye of claim 3 in which 11:8.

5. The method of making an eye for a. metallic rope of n strands braided together, n being an integer not less than 4, each strand consisting of ya plurality of wires laid helically together around a core, comprising unbraiding Patented Jan. 30, 1968 the strands in a terminal portion of the rope, unlaying the wires in each of two strands at the terminal portion, cutting o a fraction of the wires of each of tho-se two unlaid strands and the core of one of them7 the sum of the fractions being unity, laying the remaining wires of each of those strands helically together around the remaining core to form a single strand, helically laying the resulting (rz-1) strands together to form a terminal rope portion, and looping the free end of the terminal References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hobbs 87-8 Peterson 87-8 XR leterson et al. 87-8 Peterson 87-8 Gathrnan et al 87-8 Lawson et al. 87-8 rope portion back `against the terminal rope portion and lo JOHN PETRAKES prima@ Examier 1 L securing it thereto. 

1. AN EYE FOR A WIRE ROPE HAVING A BODY OF N STRANDS BRAIDED TOGETHER, N BEING AN INTEGER NOT LESS THAN 4, EACH STRAND CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF WIRES LAID HELICALLY TOGETHER AROUND A CORE, COMPRISING A TERMINAL PORTION OF ROPE OF NOT MORE THAN (N-1) STRANDS HELICALLY LAID TOGETHER, ONE OF THOSE TERMINAL STRANDS CONSISTING OF A FRACTION OF THE WIRES OF THE (N-1) THE STRAND AND A FRACTION OF THE WIRES OF THE NTH STRAND LAID HELICALLY TOGETHER AROUND THE CORE OF THE (N-1) TH STRAND THE SUM OF THE FRACTIONS BEING UNITY, THE REMAINING WIRES OF THE (N-1) TH STRAND AND OF THE NTH STRAND AND THE CORE OF THE NTH STRAND BEING CUT OFF AT THE JUNCTION OF BODY AND TERMINAL ROPE PORTIONS, THE FREE END OF THE TERMINAL PORTION BEING LOOPED BACK AND PRESSED AGAINST THE TERMINAL PORTION BY A COMRPESSION FITTING.
 5. THE METHOD OF MAKING AN EYE FOR A METALLIC ROPE OF N STRANDS BRAIDED TOGETHER, N BEING AN INTEGER NOT LESS THAN 4, EACH STRAND CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF WIRES LAID HELICALLY TOGETHER AROUND A CORE, COMPRISING UNBRAIDING THE STRANDS IN A TERMINAL PORTION OF THE ROPE, UNLAYING THE WIRES IN EACH OF TWO STRANDS AT THE TERMINAL PORTION, CUTTING OFF A FRACTION OF THE WIRES OF EACH OF THOSE TWO UNLAID STRANDS AND THE CORE OF ONE OF THEM, THE SUM OF THE FRACTIONS BEING UNITY, LAYING THE REMAINING WIRES OF EACH OF THOSE STRANDS HELICALLY TOGETHER AROUND THE REMAINING CORE TO FORM A SINGLE STRANS, HELICALLY LAYING THE RESULTING (N-1) STRANDS TOGETHER TO FORM A TERMINAL ROPE PORTION, AND LOOPING THE FREE END OF THE TERMINAL ROPE PORTION BACK AGAINST THE TERMINAL ROPE PORTION AND SECURING IT THERETO. 